I DID IT!!

Wow! It is so crazy to think that this program is already over. It seemed like just last week I was moving my things into my apartment in a new city, and now I a moving out to a new house in my new home. This program has really given me hope as far as making something of myself. I was always the kid in my family that stood ou,t wasn't real big on school, and didn't make the best decisions in life growing up. There is a lot of people out there including myself at times who would have never thought I would make it this far to be graduating from a university like this one. It is truly a blessing. I was able to learn from some of the smartest minds in the world, and I also had the pleasure of going to class with some of the best people who are going to make great doctors someday.   It was also a pleasure to volunteer throughout the city. That was some of the best memories I have of this program. From the builds all day Saturday to the fun one time events. It is honestly kind of sad writing this post, because that means that this chapter in my life is coming to an end, but I am forever grateful to the people I have met at this university for helping me to achieve my dream of becoming a doctor. I look forward to seeing whats in store for us in the future. Much ofas (love) to everyone who believes in me and has helped me get this far! We DID IT!
Total semester service hours:48
Total year hours:94

March happiness

This month by far was one of the best months I have had. It was great because I was able to do well in the SHELF exam at the beginning of the month, and it was also my birthday at the the end of this month. My birthday this year, was especially special because a group of kids from my community were able to come see me and Tulane Med. I still talk to one of my advisors that was a big influence in my life, and I told her that I really enjoyed Tulane and its school. Where I come from most kids don't even finish high school, and at one point in time that was gonna be me. It was with the help and guidance from her and a few other teachers that gave me the will power to go to school and strive to be better. She decided to fundraise to help bring the kids out to see a person who made it out. This to me was an amazing and humbling birthday, because I am able to give these kids something that I never had which was a positive role model. I am hoping that they could see that if a person like me could have made it out they can to. I hope to continue to make my God, my family, and my community proud. Monthly hours:15 hours

2/27/18

This month has gone by so fast. It seemed like I was just writing my post for last month. This semester has been really stressful, because we have our competency exam coming up and the beginning of march, and I have my MCAT at the end of April. It seems like a long time, but when you have that much material to cover it seems almost impossible. I am lucky to have some good classmates who have been able to help me through some tough concepts, and real life questions. These are the things I am trying to focus on more so than the stress. I am trying to watch how much I stress, after being in Endocrine Pharm. That class has turned out to be very interesting and relatable.
We have learned about how a lot of stress effects your body in a negative way. It was interesting to learn that in highly stressful times, like what my classmates and I are going through can trigger the same response in the body as it would if we were getting chased by a lion. This class has broadened my way of thinking about stress.
Over the past couple months I have been blessed with the opportunity to volunteer with different organizations. This to me has been one of the top highlights of the program. It is awesome that we are  able to make a difference and hang out with friends. Below is a link of Josh Sethi and I planting trees with SOUL NOLA this pasted weekend. This is my favorite volunteering because we are saving lives before becoming doctors( because trees produce oxygen that keeps us breathing!) Monthly service hours: 17 hours

http://www.fox8live.com/story/37584310/volunteers-plant-150-trees-in-local-neighborhoods

Half WAYYYY!

It used to be that there was not that many people, including myself that would have ever thought I would have made it this far. I had coaches, teachers, and even family members who didn't believe I would graduate high school, much less be half way through a masters at one of the top schools in the country. I feel blessed to be here to have this opportunity. It makes it that much better to share this experience with good classmates and professors. I know I have a lot to go in my journey, but I feel I am at least on the right path being here. I have had some great experiences volunteering with different organizations to help the city of New Orleans.

I have started volunteering with the Salvation Army serving food to some of the people who live there, and who come in. It has been a good experience because of the people who I have meet there and the good food I am able to eat after I help. I also have been doing a lot of assignments with Tree Nola, which is an organization that plants native trees throughout the city. I have truly enjoyed this because with all the global changes that are happening now in the world, this will be my part to help for my future children to have a better environment. I was also able to help sell 50/50 raffles at the Saints playoff game vs the Carolina Panthers, which was really fun. I enjoyed yelling at people to come buy tickets and joking around with the fans. The best part about doing this was that half of the earnings would go to help kids get to school. I plan to become apart of newer organizations to help out in the future. Monthly service hours:16

11/30/17

I figured I would add a picture this blog because it is better to see a picture of the cool things I do rather than read about them. This picture is after doing Garden day at a local elementary. The students at this school use the food that is grown from this garden to use in there cooking class. This is the first time that I had heard of a school doing things like this for the kids, because where I grew up they didn't have these type of programs. It was a great experience. I also got the chance to come back to this school a couple weeks later to participate in The Iron chef. This competition was awesome, because they asked local Chefs and volunteers to help the kids in a cooking competition. There was about ten groups of kids of 8, with a chef ,and volunteer. Most of the ingredients were from the garden, along with other supplies from the store. The secret ingredient was papaya, which was grown in the garden by the kids. My group ended up making turkey bacon tacos with a papaya salsa! It was great and the kids were amazing. I plan to do other things with this school in the future!  We also just started the beginning of the brain block which so far is super interesting, so I am excited for this one!
Total service hours: 46

10/30/17

The time is going by so fast in this program. It seemed like I had just moved here in July, but in reality I'm half way through this program. We only have three more blocks for this semester. I think that the Neoplasia block we are currently going through is very interesting. It has opened a different way of thinking when it comes to how cancer works. Before I started this program I assumed that all cancers are the same, but this is not fully true. I was a lot easier for me to study for this block, because I was very interested in what we were learning. My classmates and I get together and study almost every day, which makes it that much better.

New Orleans winters are awesome! The weather is perfect now compared to when it was a million degrees in the summer. I don't sweat walking from building to building. It is a huge change compared to what I am used to. I am from New Mexico, where right around this time we are getting snow. I'm keeping very busy outside of the classroom. I am still playing volleyball and basketball for intermural. We are 3-2 in volleyball, and 1-3 in basket ball. I also decided I needed to be apart of a rougher sport with more contact, because that's what I have been doing my whole life playing football. Since I am out of eligibility in football, I tried out for rugby. It is a lot of running, and for a big guy that is 350 pounds make is difficult. I still enjoy it very much, and it keeps me in shape.

For my service hours I still am doing the same things. We are still volunteering at KIPP middle school. A few of us in class will be doing other things like children's hospital, or the Homeless shelter. I am excited to see what other things I could do in the community.

9/30/17

I can not believe that we have already been through three blocks in the program. I have learned so many different things in such a short time. A lot of this success is due to my classmates who have helped me along the way. They explain things to me that I don't understand at first, and they teach me interesting ways to study. For example, I didn't realize that writing on a white board with different colors would stick the information in your mind so good. I have also learned in this program how to study. I feel like that is a big part of being successful in these classes. Once I was able to find my way of studying the information, it did not seem as overwhelming.

Nola life is seeming to grow on me a little more. My classmates and I are getting closer as friends which makes the weekends fun, and a good study break. We also formed intermural teams in basketball and volleyball. Our first basketball game went really good, because we beat this team by 50 points! This is a good way to spend time with good people and relieve stress.

For my service hours I have gotten to do a lot of different things. I have been volunteering at KIPP middle school for the past month. For the most part it is interesting to be in a school setting. The only thing that I wish we would do is hang out with the kids more. Most of the things we do is cutting paper dollars, or moving desks. I also spent a Saturday with the Habitat for Humanity which was very fun. Most of the day we moved couches for people and other furniture. This was really nice because we were not out in the sun. The people I volunteered with made the day that much better. These coming months I plan to work at the Children's Hospital in whatever area is need. I feel like this will be a great experience.